


the one who lights (our) way

by bokayjunkie



Series: Connect the Dots [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, all the OTA feels, post ep response, spoiler for the whole legends of superflarrow xover, spoilers for arrow 100 episode, with a sprinkle of olicity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8721892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokayjunkie/pseuds/bokayjunkie
Summary: “So what was it like?” It was the first time in what felt like a long time, even though it was only a couple of days, that they could sit and just breath. After spending the past few days fighting, teaming up with others, and dealing with aliens, it was nice to be back in their bunker, in their reality, and not worry they’re going to get abducted.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler warning for the Arrow 100th episode, and for the entirety of the crossover as well I suppose.
> 
> I tried to get this written and posted before Legends aired in the east coast, which is why I didn't really get a thorough read through of it. So it's unbeta'd and there is definitely some grammar/spelling mistakes I missed as I only read through this like...twice.
> 
> Anyways, i've read so many meta's and reviews of the episode that it conjured up this scene in my head. And I wanted to post this before Legends aired so it can live as a speculation for a moment before it gets completely disputed by canon (although they might not dwell on how Team Arrow deals with the aftermath of the episode as Invasion (4) should focus entirely on the Legends crew). 
> 
> Enjoy the reading and all the OTA!

“So what was it like?” Felicity asked, looking at the two men in front of her who are currently nursing their bruises.

They were all in the med bay, Oliver sitting on one of the stools and Diggle standing behind him, finishing up the bandage on one of his cuts.

It was the first time in what felt like a long time, even though it was only a couple of days, that they could sit and just breath. After spending the past few days fighting, teaming up with others, and dealing with _aliens_ , it was nice to be back in their bunker, in their reality, and not worry they’re going to get abducted.

“I mean, you guys were in space.” She continued, her eyes starting to widen and her voice starting to get high. “And not just that, you were in an actual spaceship! You even flew one of their space pods. _Space pods_!”

Oliver and Diggle couldn’t help but chuckle at her excited look.

“We didn’t exactly have the luxury of exploring the place, Felicity.” Diggle mumbled, though an amused smile was on his face.

“But still…You were in space!” she practically squealed, her hand grabbing a hold of Oliver’s bicep and squeezing it in her excitement.

Oliver let out a laugh at her elation, not even flinching at the death grip.

“I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut.” Felicity said, wistfully, a soft smile on her face. Her free hand on her chest, while the other still held its grip on Oliver. “I begged my mom to go to space camp but we couldn’t afford it. Then I got glasses and any dreams I had of going to space went down the drain.”

“It’s not really something we would recommend.” Diggle said dryly. “Being mind controlled and running from deadly aliens isn’t exactly the best experience.”

“Damn aliens ruining my fantasy of space.” She said with a slight pout.

A silence fell between the three. The two men went back to tending to their wounds while Felicity looked at them. The enthusiasm she showed before had simmered as she watched the two men, who are so important to her, go through their own recuperation process. They all seem to be lost in their thoughts, processing what they had just gone through.

Felicity thought of how close she was to really losing them; when she realized that her friends had been taken to a spaceship _in space_. It wasn’t the first time that she had that feeling of anxiety at the thought that she was losing them, people she considered her family; but this was the first time where she thought ‘how can I possibly help them?’

They were talking about _spaceships_ and _aliens_ for goodness sake!

It’s really a relief when the Legends crew had said they could go out in space and look for their abducted friends. Felicity had never felt more relieved at the absurdity that is her life, knowing that there are people she knows who have their own spaceship that can fly out in space to rescue their friends.

Her attention turned back to the two men who are now in their own little world. They hadn’t said much since they got back to the bunker. Course, this was the first time that they’ve had a moment to themselves since Barry had appeared days ago.

Thea had opted to go back to her place to recover from their battle; she’s still set on putting boundaries between Team Arrow and her own life. The rest of the team had finally left after they had seen for themselves that the trio were fine and there weren’t any more threats coming to them, at least none of the extraterrestrial kind.

The three are now by themselves in their headquarters, relishing the silence and sense of peace and calm that they can only feel when it’s just the three of them.

Now, Felicity can finally process in her head exactly what had happened to them, what happened to her friends. She looked at the two, concern starting to creep in her head.

“How are you two, really?” she asked them, her voice soft. The hand that gripped Oliver’s bicep had loosened but still attached to him, with her thumb rubbing him lightly in circular motion.

Oliver let out a sigh, his own breath of relief, at the gesture. He knew she probably wasn’t aware of her actions; it was a feeling of comfort from her that he rarely gets to experience these days as he is always conscious about keeping a safe distance from her. This time, though, he welcomes the contact, selfishly needing her touch to ground him back to reality.

“Are you guys feeling fine? How are your heads.” She continued to ask, looking at them in concern.

“We’re fine, Felicity.” Diggle smiled at her reassuringly. “You heard Caitlin, there wasn’t anything abnormal about our brains. The aliens didn’t do any damage to us when they put us to sleep.”

“I wasn’t talking about any damage to your brains.” She said. “Caitlin wouldn’t have let us leave Star Labs if that were the case.” Her lips pursed for a moment, looking at the two. “I mean _how are you_ guys?”

The tone of her voice changed the mood in the room entirely. Diggle’s feet shuffled turning away from her. Oliver’s body tensed as he kept his head down.

“Ray told me what happened.” She continued. “He told me what you guys saw….” Her head turned to look at Oliver, who still held his head down. “ _Who_ you saw.” The soft rubbing of her thumb stopped as her grip on his arm tightened again.

Oliver inhaled shakily, his eyes closing tightly as the images of his parents flashed in his head.

“That mustn’t have been easy.” Felicity’s voice was low, as though she was keeping quiet so only he would hear.

He shook his head, clearing away the thoughts.

“They weren’t real.” He said, his voice rough.

As though they hadn’t spent the better part of the year putting walls up from each other, Felicity moved her body closer to his, practically against his side. Her other hand coming up to his back, her palms rubbing his back in a comforting state.

The feel of her entire body pressed against his was what set lose all the emotions he had been trying to hold back since he had woken up in that spaceship. His body started to shake as he tried to keep his composure. It was a good thing that Diggle was to his back and his head was still faced away from Felicity, otherwise he wouldn’t know if he can hold it in together.

“They were alive.” He said in a hoarse whisper. “They looked so happy.” He let out a shaky sigh, remembering the way his parents smiled and just glowed. “When the reality dawned on me... I couldn’t look at them. I tried to look away but…” he shook his head as the memory of being in the arms of his mother and father crashed back into him. “I couldn’t stay. It wasn’t real.”

The memory was too much and he let himself sag against Felicity, who welcomed him into her arms. The hand continued to rub against his back as the other held on to his arm to keep him from falling off.

Nothing else mattered right now. Any thoughts about their break up and moving on and the separate lives that they are living are complete gone from their minds. Oliver needed her and she will always be here for him.

Felicity’s gaze shifted on to Diggle, who now faced the two of them. Concern was etched on to his face; he could tell that Oliver was reliving the world they had been in. He knew the kind of affect it must have left him, to be in a world where his family was whole; alive and well.

“You got to say goodbye.” Felicity murmured softly. “I know that must have been difficult, but at least you got to say goodbye.” Sara had been the one who had given her that tidbit. The former assassin wasn’t as forthcoming with information either, but she did mention how Oliver got to have that moment with his parents.

Oliver didn’t say anything. His body remained against Felicity for a moment, taking pleasure to feel her comforting embrace. He knew this was a temporary thing with them; they don’t do this kind of comfort anymore. But he couldn’t help getting lost in the feeling of her.

When his body started to pull back, Felicity’s hand on his back stopped and let go. It was as if they both knew they needed to turn off whatever momentary relapse they had and start putting boundaries again. The feel of being in each other’s face was intoxicating enough as it is, the longer they stay there the harder it would be for them to pull back.

Felicity took as step back from Oliver as he sat straighter in his seat. Both of her hands were now off of him, clasped together in her front as though to keep herself from reaching out to him again.  She cleared her throat, the sound breaking whatever emotional mood had been placed seconds ago.

“Would it be completely selfish of me to say I’m glad you guys woke up from your dream so you can come back to reality and get your ass out of there?” she said, her face looking completely innocent in her inquiry.

Diggle managed to let out a chuckle. “It’s not selfish for wanting us to be safe, Felicity.” He said. “It certainly wouldn’t have been good for us to stay in that place.”

She nodded. “Ray said you could barely tell what was real and what was not. And I know with what you guys saw…” she trailed off for a second, taking a glance at Oliver. “It must have been difficult to think that it wasn’t real. How did you guys snap out of it anyway?”

“We saw glimpses of our lives, our real lives.” Diggle said. “Things would trigger our memories. It would be fleeting and we’d forget immediately but something always seemed out of place.”

“Hmm…” Felicity nodded, accepting that answer. She’s never experienced being in an alternate reality herself, but from what she’s learned watching sci-fi shows, Diggle’s answer seemed to be accurate.

“Smoak Technologies.” Oliver suddenly exclaimed.

Diggle and Felicity was startled at his outburst, looking at him bewildered.

“What?” Felicity asked.

“Smoak Technologies.” He said, a small smile on his face. He glanced at Diggle. “Remember that?” it took a second for Diggle to comprehend – the image of a tall building with Smoak Technologies lit up in blue flashed back to him – when he did he smiled.

“What’s Smoak Technologies?” Felicity asked, looking between the two who now seemed to be communicating with each other telepathically. “Smoak as in me, Smoak? That Smoak? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, you.” Oliver stepped off his stool and stood, with Diggle moving closer to stand next to him. the two men looked at her with warm smiles. “That was how we knew where and how to get home. Smoak Technologies.”

The proud smile on their faces would have been comical to Felicity if she wasn’t still confused.

“But what’s Smoak Technologies? What does that even mean?”

“Oliver and I kept seeing this building, Smoak Technologies.” Diggle explained. “From what we can tell, we were the only ones who could see it. I don’t even think Sara or Ray or Thea saw it. Not until we went there to find a way out.”

“But you guys did?”

The two nodded.

“And that’s how you knew you were in some sort of bizarro matrix land?”

There was a paused between the two men where they looked at each other, their brows furrowed as though they were both thinking back to their time in the dream land and how they acted when they saw signs of things not being right in that world.

“Not exactly at first.” Diggle answered, the two of them facing her again. “We were trying to figure out what was happening, why we kept getting these images and why things felt off. When we finally realized what was going on, we knew Smoak Technologies was our way home.”

“You were our way home.” Oliver let out before he could stop himself. It was a comment that he shouldn’t be making, as that is not the kind of relationship they have anymore, but it was also something he can’t keep to himself. He was still feeling a little bit open after his emotional release earlier.

Felicity, on her part, didn’t chastise him for it, but it did cause her to blush.

“It’s true.” Diggle agreed. “I think Ray said something about the Dominators using our subconscious to keep us in that place. Taking pieces of our memories to create a perfect dream world that would tempt us into staying there, but I don’t think they counted on the fact that we had you in our lives.”

“Me?”

“You always help us find our way home, Felicity.” Oliver said softly. There was so much emotion in his voice that it practically shook Felicity.

“It makes sense.” Diggle continued, smiling at her. “Every night, for the past five years, it’s always your voice we hear when we’re out there fighting. You guide us and make sure that we come home safe. It only makes sense that our subconscious would conjure you up that way; like a beacon for us to find our way home.”

Felicity couldn’t help the huge smile that erupted on her face. Her eyes started to water and her heart is filled with so much _love_ for these two men.

They had just been through an out of this world ordeal. Literally. Aliens and spaceships were involved. They hadn’t had a moment to breath until now. Their eyes had been opened to so much; the reality of their world had just been turned upside down in a matter of days.

Yet here are the two men who had become so important in Felicity’s life, basically telling her she’s just as important to them. This isn’t any new information, of course. In the five years they’ve known each other, they’ve all come to the silent agreement that they are family no matter what. John is her brother in every sense of the word other than blood and Oliver… well Oliver is something else to her that's more than just family but she can't dwell on what exactly right now.

It’s something else entirely, though, to hear them declare this in such honesty. The two men aren’t always that forthcoming when it comes to their feelings. They usually hand out statements like that when they’re in life or death situation. They never voluntarily say these things, in a setting where they’re just decompressing without any imminent danger looming around.

The fact that they’re telling her this now, in a way where they practically spell out their appreciation, is what makes Felicity practically bawl.

“Even in an alternate reality, you saved us.” Oliver said, his smile and the look in his eyes turning affectionate. 

Felicity choked up a laugh and practically flung herself onto them. The two men had closed in on her, almost catching her as the two of them wrapped an arm on each of her side as Felicity rested in between them, her arms wrapping around them both.

They stayed that way for a while. Felicity resting her head in between them, her grip around them tight. A few tears escaped from her eyes, finally letting go of all the worries she had been harboring since they had first gone out to fight the Dominators.

Her boys are safe. They’re back home, they’re in her arms and they’re safe.

“I’ll always have your back.” She whispered.

 

 

 


End file.
